We want to help heal cancer

Cancer is one of the main challenges many Europeans face. Almost one in three Europeans will develop cancer in their lifetime and every European knows how painful and impactful the burden of cancer is. While major responsibilities for health remain within the Member States, the EU can and must play its part.

The EPP Group wants to make the fight against cancer its main priority because it wants nobody in the EU to die from cancer 20 years from now.

Research is key: we want more funds

The EPP Group wants to double the amount the European Union is spending on cancer research until 2024. We want in particular to invest more in research helping us to fight cancer in children. Research conducted by non-profit organisations, such as cancer charities, should receive five times more support than in the past.

In Europe, we need research in order to come up with therapies that are more specialised so that we can avoid unnecessary travelling for patients.

Member States must implement legislation, namely the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive, allowing patients to see specialists which are best suited for their treatment without unnecessary burdens.

More cooperation - better results

Cooperation is key. That is why we want the European Commission to help Member States with specific projects such as, for instance, the creation of a European Cancer Register, where medical professionals could make use of all available information, including the exchange of best practices in palliative care.

The institutions in Member States responsible for determining which medicine is to be reimbursed or not, namely the European Medicines Agency and national associations for Health Technology Assessments, should communicate better. The goal is to invest in medicines that have a real benefit for patients.

We also ask the European Commission to do everything in its power to limit bureaucracy in clinical trials, especially for SMEs and non-profit organisations.

The way forward

Cancer research can be more successful and cancer treatment can be more effective if the best brains in Europe work together and patients have the possibility to benefit from progress wherever they live. The EPP Group has assured that cancer research will be one of the top priorities in the EU Research & Development programme ‘Horizon Europe’ from 2021 to 2027.